Benefits of Cord Blood and Cord Tissue Stem Cells

Bolstering and Reproducing Blood and Immune System

Cord blood stem cells are used to treat nearly 80 debilitating diseases and have been used in more than 30,000 transplants. In the event your child contracts a disease, which must be treated with chemotherapy or radiation, there is a probability of a negative impact on the immune system. If you have previously banked your child’s cord blood and tissue, the preserved umbilical cord blood stem cells may be used to bolster and repopulate your child’s blood and immune system.

Easy Extraction

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood and cord tissue can easily be extracted, resulting in no risk or pain for the mother or baby. Alternatively, bone marrow collection is an invasive procedure and requires general anesthesia which comes with its inherent risks.

A Perfect Lifetime Self Match and Probable Sibling Match

Often, matched stem cells, which are necessary for transplant, are difficult to obtain due to strict matching requirements, but your baby’s cord stem cells will be a perfect lifetime match for him/her.

Your child’s cord blood stem cells also have a 25% chance of a perfect match for a sibling and a 50% chance for a partial match. Using genetically related stem cells, which are free from the disease being treated, often results in successful transplants with fewer complications for a blood related family member.

High Rate of Engraftment

Cord blood stem cells have a high rate of engraftment (transplanted cells reproducing in the host) and are more tolerant of HLA mismatches than bone marrow transplants. This characteristic results in a significantly reduced rate of post-transplant Graft-Versus-Host Disease.

Immediately Available for Treatment With No Retrieval Fee

Family banked cord blood stem cells are readily accessible, allowing treatment to begin earlier if required, with no time wasted in the search and matching process which are required for publicly banked stem cells.

When you bank with Cryo-Cell, there is no cost to retrieve your baby’s stored stem cells if they are ever needed for transplant. However, there may be a fee associated with further testing required for transplant and transportation of the product to the transplant facility.

Rarely Contaminated with Latent Viruses

Cord blood stem cells are rarely contaminated with latent viruses, which results in better acceptance by the body than stem cells from bone marrow. For this reason, cord blood and cord tissue stem cells are dubbed ‘privileged’, for their unique characteristic of being unexposed to most diseases.

Promising Applications in Regenerative Medicine

We are living in the exciting era of regenerative medicine. Stem cells are currently being studied in numerous clinical trials for regenerative medicine, treating diseases unrelated to the blood or immune system. Many of these studies involve cells from the umbilical cord blood and/or cord tissue.

New regenerative medicine uses stem cells to rebuild cardiac tissue, repair damage due to stroke or spinal cord injuries, reverse the effects of diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's, and build new organs. While the research is in its early stages, the possibilities are extremely promising. By banking your baby’s umbilical cord blood and tissue stem cells today, you increase his or her access to these health technologies tomorrow.

Saving your child’s stem cells is an investment towards your family’s future health; thus, its benefits cannot be measured in financial terms. However, if one must make economic justifications, the cost of storing cord blood and tissue pales in comparison to the many expenses associated with raising a child today, such as the cost of child care and education. The potential return on this investment is paramount as it can save the lives of your loved ones.

In summary, there is no better investment than investing in the health future of your own family. Store your baby’s cord blood and tissue today!

In order to preserve more types and quantity of umbilical cord stem cells and to maximize possible future health options, Cryo-Cell’s umbilical cord tissue service provides expectant families with the opportunity to cryogenically store their newborn’s umbilical cord tissue cells contained within substantially intact cord tissue. Should umbilical cord tissue cells be considered for potential utilization in a future therapeutic application, further laboratory processing may be necessary. Regarding umbilical cord tissue, all private blood banks’ activities for New York State residents are limited to collection, processing, and long-term storage of umbilical cord tissue stem cells. The possession of a New York State license for such collection, processing and long-term storage does not indicate approval or endorsement of possible future uses or future suitability of these cells.